Stay
by FreezePride
Summary: Characters: Aeleus (Lexaeus), Ienzo (Zexion) Ienzo is forced to face the fear of mortality in a way he never suspected he would have to.


The fact that the room was so still made Ienzo inwardly panic.

Yes, it was a place of resting and healing essentially that horrendous battle (which he had not even witnessed) but there was something too neat, too still and far too sterile about it. Aeleus was not messy, but he never did seem to care for the pristinely chaotic entrapments of a lab like Even did. He preferred something breathing, living and entirely relatable. Ienzo had become accustomed to that comforting presence, the steady and deep rise and fall of the chest which denoted life within his counterpart, the seemingly unending heartbeat.

But this was so still, so terribly unnatural. Ienzo cringed as he entered, shutting the door behind him with a soft click, as though afraid to disturb the moonlight, his eyes locked on the figure in the bed. Those soft breaths seemed strikingly shallow in comparison to what he knew was normal.

Aeleus was already awake. It was as though all that was required was the slightest coaxing of a suggestion that Ienzo needed him and he would be ready for action once again. Well, perhaps not entirely for 'action' the young prodigy reflected, looking at the extensive damage this time, his grey blue eyes narrowed as they traveled along bandages wound around bandages and even more bandages. The empty bottles of potion were lined up neatly at his bedside for the process he had underwent not a few hours prior. Scars peeked out from stray traces of skin which he saw. His torso was entirely covered, no surprises there. Most likely, the magically healed flesh was still extremely delicate. Keeping it covered could only benefit for now.

Aeleus looked at Ienzo with askance. Ienzo could not help it, his eye twitched in annoyance as he crossed his arms and stared pointedly at the bedspread, not caring to see that concerned, caring expression. How could any idiot ever think he was 'stoic'? His thoughts were so damn plain, he could have screamed them.

I'm sorry, but I'm not sorry.

"Dilan is safe. Congratulations." Ienzo panned flatly, glaring at about eye level (for once) at his guardian. The fight to drag Xaldin back into the land of the living had not been his idea. He had wanted the other man dead, had not seen the use in trying to salvage his 'soul' or any of that ridiculousness. Aeleus had persisted. He hadn't even needed to say a word; Ienzo knew he would stand by his former brother in arms.

It made his blood boil.

He had spent sleepless nights wondering about it, if he would even have the opportunity to do so, and hoping to whatever deities that be that Dilan was long gone, that he was never coming back. What made him so important anyway? Why was a brother even necessary? Did Aeleus even realize that they were not even truly brothers at all? The more he dwelled on it, the more it aggravated him. The more it aggravated him, the nighttime around him seemed all the more bleak, more desolate. He felt alone and he could never remember any spring nights being so cold and dark.

And Xaldin had returned. Like a damned nightmare on the skeletal wings of pure dread, he had shown up at a moment when he seemed all but forgotten. Aeleus had gone to battle before Ienzo had even known, had even been able to realize what was going on, which was a feat within itself, being that both Ienzo and Even were manning the defense systems.

Ienzo had heard sickeningly teeth chattering sound of metal hitting metal as his foot pounded the stones of The Great Maw. As he ran, his panting was drowned out by the groaning and grinding of the earth beneath him. The desolation, the chaos of the battlefield itself had shown him that he was horrifying late but the animalistic shout of which rose from the men in question told him it was done.

He glared at Aeleus now, that fear still fresh, still pulsing through him like adrenaline. It felt so comfortingly familiar, like anger. The guardian frowned pleadingly as he held out his hand, which was only met by a petulant slap as it was swatted away.

"No!" Ienzo hissed, the darkness of the night stilling his voice to tight, clipped tones. "No." He repeated, quieting himself to his usual even tones. "How dare you even think to run off. You had not even discussed this reckless plan with me, or I might have been able to talk some sense into you. Anything could have happened. You could have been taken by the darkness yourself. You had not even bothered to say goodbye." He labored for a moment to breath as his throat constricted painfully at the memory.

The sight of Aeleus, standing alone on that battle field, framed by the bright sunlight which blinded Ienzo into seeing the gargantuan man as a silhouette against a clear bright, angry orange sky. The relief of seeing him standing, while Xaldin (or perhaps Dilan at that point) was unconscious at his feet made Ienzo slow, obviously weak in the knees. He had said something ridiculously foolish, which is what he always did when he was stupid and unguarded, like "You're alright".

Aeleus turned to face him. It was as though the two spears through his torso had grown from the darkness of his form, like some horrible parody in a trick of the light. _Now you see it, now you don't._ Ienzo could have laughed. He supposed that Aeleus had probably hit the ground hard but he couldn't hear it over the ringing in his ears, over the screaming.

A soft touch to his arm brought him back to the present, and this time Ienzo did yell. "NO!" He persisted, shoving the offending hand away, wishing immediately that he hadn't. It was the first bit of warmth he had felt in weeks.

"There was no reason to say goodbye. I had always intended on coming back." Why did Aeleus' voice sound so soft? How dare he be weak! He had no right to be weak, to make Ienzo worry this way! His vision blurred dangerously as he looked at the window as thought it had offended him, as though he could deny the fact that his eyes could produce tears. Ienzo was above all that, he was the little prodigy, he was Even's pride and joy and the hope for the future. Ienzo didn't cry.

"You obviously have your own priorities. I see that now." His voice dug with every word, wanting to stab at the guard, burn him with the truth, force him to feel all of that sickening, torturous fear. His eyes locked back on to the guard and, with a twisted delight, he caught him wince at the accusations. "Truly, I won't bother you anymore. I just needed confirmation." He whispered, hating how the words sounded and hating how very much they confirmed every fear he ever knew had.

His feet had carried him through the door before he could even take another breath, which was helpful given that he had been holding it without even knowing. Ienzo slammed it behind him, but for some reason he could not seem to pin point, he was rooted in place. He couldn't possibly bring himself to move. He felt so wrong. So horrible. So low, he couldn't possibly be human.

And the darkness was telling him he was so very right, that he had every base by which to abandon Aeleus. Ienzo was so beyond this base sensation of fear, of panic. He needed to move forward, to accept who he truly was.

Because Zexion was just so powerful, so overwhelmingly, comfortingly..._assured_.

Ienzo heart was thundering in his ears, his eyes felt hazy and the darkening hallway around him was spiraling into a familiar blackness. His hand was against Aeleus' door, and he might have fallen to his knees then and there if he had not heard something from within.

It was a the creak of a bed, stifled groan, a short gasp. The hallway suddenly came into alarmingly clear focus, the cool metal of the doorknob beneath his sweating palm. But where he was and what he was doing was so dreadfully unimportant. All that mattered was what Aeleus was trying (rather idiotically) to do. Ienzo impatiently yanked the door open as though it's very presence right now was an act of foolish disrespect.

"What do you think you're doing?" The question was irrelevant. They both knew it. An extremely injured Aeleus was halfway up from his bed, moving slowly, impossibly careful for a man so large.

"I'm following you."

"Aeleus." Ienzo sighed as he stepped back into the room. Not too emotionally exhausted to realize that he was entirely relieved for reasons he couldn't begin to fathom.

"Will you stay?" The guard asked softly, biting back another groan of pain as Ienzo pushed him back on to his bed. The younger man settled on to the bed next to him, which was a feat given that there was not much room to do so. Ienzo leaned his head on the other man's shoulder, loving the fact that despite all of the potions, the antiseptics, the magics and the blood which had covered his body today, Aeleus still smelled of the fresh air outside. He opened his mouth to answer, but the realization of the redundancy struck him. Why bother, Aeleus already knew.

Ienzo buried his face in the other man's chest and felt that soft heartbeat, for he knew that it would grow back to be just as strong as it was before if not even stronger. He sighed contentedly, feeling as though this was precisely where he fit, where he belonged.

The night was warm. The darkness did not linger.


End file.
